R. Kelly Talks Sexual Allegations & Being the Victim of Abuse as a Child in Candid Interview

R. Kelly agreed to a candid interview for the February issue of GQ magazine, in which he discusses the sexual abuse he suffered as a child which he says began when he was around “7 or 8 to maybe 14, 15.”

“At first, I couldn’t judge it. I remember it feeling weird,” R. Kelly tells the magazine. “I remember feeling ashamed. I remember closing my eyes or keeping my hands over my eyes. I remember those things, but couldn’t judge it one way or the other fully.”

The singer discusses on the nature of his relationship with the late Aaliyah. “I would describe it as best friends. Deep friends. As far as we both loved music and wanted to be successful,” he says. “She’s a Capricorn, I’m a Capricorn, my momma a Capricorn, her daddy’s a Capricorn, you know. It was just so much in common with each other,” says Kelly, adding that they were “best best best best friends.”

Kelly also addresses those who still question him after his acquittal in 2008 on charges of child pornography involving a sex tape with an allegedly underage girl. “Well, to be honest with you, man…however, whatever, whenever. When a person is found not guilty, they’re found not guilty,” he says. “And it doesn’t matter if it’s a murder case, it doesn’t matter what case it is, when they’re found not guilty, they’re not guilty. And I think that a lot of haters out there wanted to see me go down.”

The latest issue of GQ, which is currently available on newsstands in New York and Los Angeles, will be available nationally January 26.